In an effort to keep the forest in the Forest City, London is looking to close by-law loopholes that have allowed hundreds of trees to be chopped down by developers.
Under a newly proposed Tree Protection By-law, a permit would be required to cut down large distinctive trees defined as 75cm in diameter or greater, as well as those identified in tree protection areas within the city. Currently, some developers have been accused of skirting the existing by-law by clearing forested areas before they can be evaluated through the planning application process.
"It will make a large difference in London. We are the forest city and this is about getting in line with best practices across the province and having a tree protection by-law that really does its job," says John Fleming, London's City Planner.
The city has outlined on a map, available on its website, areas that fall within the tree protection area.
"Londoners could take a look at the map and see whether their property is identified on one of those tree protection areas," says Fleming. "Additionally, if you have a tree that is over 75cm, that's around 2.5 ft in diameter, those are covered outside of the tree protection area. Below that size, the trees that might be on a Londoners' property would not be covered."
Of the city's 4-million trees, only 40,000 (1%) fall within the distinctive tree category. However, Fleming says these trees are some of the city's most important.
"These are the trees that are most valuable in terms of our tree canopy, (that are) sequestering carbon in terms of reducing the heat island effect and energy consumption. They are extremely valuable in establishing neighbourhood character. We want to make sure they are not cut down without consideration of any alternative for retaining them."
Permit fees would range from $0 to $1,000 with no fee required to remove a dead or dying tree. Failure to obtain a permit before removing a tree could result in a fine of $500 to $100,000.
Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, Guelph, Oakville, and Brantford have similar tree by-laws in place.
The proposed new by-law was created based on recommendations from the Urban Forest Strategy and would replace the current Tree Conservation By-law.
A public participation meeting on the issue will be held during Monday's Planning and Environment Committee meeting at city hall.
